the fiscal cliff could hurt a little or a lot. at least in the short run. that is up to the government and the choices the government makes for the first weeks or month or two at least. for instance, the irs, the internal revenue service can decide what to do about how they treat the tax increase. the agency could delay increasing the amount it withholds from your paycheck each week assuming congress would reach a deal. that way you wouldn't notice the tax increase before it turned around. if it didn't get reversed, you're going to get quite a bill from the taxman. also if we go over the cliff, and the spending cuts begin to take hold, the various agencies of the federal government can consider putting employees on furlough. meaning they take unpaid days off. that's considered a better alternative than layoffs, if we don't get a deal quickly, the furloughs will have to become layoffs, that will mean real pain. >>> the great question is how quickly that pain will begin. would it hurt the real economy before we get a deal? or would the prospect of pain create